Voice clue to IRA shooting

One of men police are hunting in connection with the shooting

A voice recording of a suspect in the shooting of a former IRA informer on Tyneside four years ago has been made public by police.

Northumbria Police detectives are asking the public to help identify the voice of a Scottish man wanted in connection with the attempted murder of Martin McGartland.

Mr McGartland was shot as he sat in his car in Duchess Street, Whitley Bay, on 17 June.

He survived the attempt on his life and the hunt for his attackers continues.

Now, a fresh appeal is being made, focussing on a message left on a telephone answering machine a few days before the shooting.

The caller asks about a van which was for sale - a vehicle similar to one used to conceal the gunman immediately before the shooting.

Mr McGartland was shot with a CZ 9mm semi-automatic, self-loading pistol.

He moved the north-east of England in 1991 after the IRA discovered he was a special branch agent.

In his book, 50 Dead Men Walking, Mr McGartland told how he infiltrated the IRA at the age of 17 and had operated under the code-name Agent Carol between 1988 and 1991.

Chief Superintendent Chris Symonds, who heads the investigation, said: "Although the taped message only lasts about 10 seconds, the caller does not appear to have disguised his voice.

'Vital information'

"We are confident that it would be recognisable to anyone who knows him.

"We need to trace this man who could provide vital information to this investigation."

A study of the caller's voice has revealed he is Scottish, originating from somewhere in the Glasgow region.

He was probably aged between 20 and 35 at the time of the call.

Police also believe he either lives in Northern Ireland or the Glasgow region or is likely to maintain links with these areas.

Mr Symonds said the suspect will have been absent from home between 9 June and 17 June 1999.

The recording can be heard on the Northumbria Police website.